howie



(No Model.)

W. L.'HOWIE.

v UNITED STATES PATENT @Ferca WILLIAM LAMOND IIOWIE, OF ECOLES, ENGLAND.

METHOD OF AND MVEANS FOR PREVENTING ACCUIVIULATION OF SNOW IN RAILWAY'CUTTINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 347,107, dated August 10, 1886.

Application filed February 24, 1386. Serial No. 192,997. (No model.) Patented in England December 10, 1884,'No. 16,245, and in (lanada November 30, 1885, No. 22,916.

To ctZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLTAM LAMOND HOWIE, a subject of the Queen of England, residing at Eccles, England, have invented a new and Improved Method and Means for Preventing the Accumulation of Snow in Railway-Cuttings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to keep railway-cuttings `free from drifts during snowstorins. For this purpose I erect a screen or deliector in or near the cutting, commencing at or near the point where it begins to slope away from the original level, and so fix it on supports that some space shall be left between the under side of the delector and the slope of the cutting. This screen is placed with its upper edge leaning outward from the cutting, and at such an angle and at such height above the level of the surrounding country that it may intercept and deiiect the wind carrying the drift snow and direct it through the opening between the deilector and the slopes of the cutting, across the rails and up the opposite slope, and so beyond and away from the cutting. 'Ihe deiiector may be made continuous or in sections, and constructed of Wood or other suitable materials,much like an ordinary close fence or shed, but preferably with a small space between each board, so that the wind passing through at these slits may modify the destructive force of Very high winds and prevent the accumulation of snow on the sloping upper surface. The supports of the deilector may be so made as to be capable of iixing it at different angles, as may be necessary for slopes of varying steepness and cuttings of greater or less width or depth, and it will be necessary so to fix or anchor the supports as to sufficiently resist the wind-pressure, which will be exerted chieily in anupward or uprootiug direction. The deilectors may be made in sections, and maybe removed from the supports in the summer months, and again fixed to the permanent supports on the approach of winter. The deiiector will act with a wind blowingmore or less at right angles to the line; but it is not calculated to interfere with the natural clearing action of a wind which blows parallel 4to or in the same direction as the rails, nor, although both slopes of a cutting (as is usually necessary) may be furnished with the deiectors, one is likely to interfere with the action of the other. In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a general view of a portion of a cutting fitted with this improved appliance, and Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a cutting upon a smaller scale. Fig. 3 is a detail View of a section of the structure. Y

A are the deflectors, by preference formed in sections, as shown. These are securely fixed by any convenient means to the supports B, which are firmly embedded in the banks O ofthe cutting. rIhe angle of inclination of these deflectors may vary according to circumstances; but it will generally approximate to the parallel with the banks of the cutting. The upper edge of the deiiectors A is carried well above the top of the slope C, so as to collect the wind and deect it down the face of the slope, (beetwcn the deiiector and the slope.) When it escapes from the first defiector, it sweeps across the track, and, striking the opposite slope, rises up it, conveying the snow away from the track and onto the country beyond. The deiiector upon the second or farther slope, being more or less parallel with the 'face of the slope, offers no appreciable check to the passage of the wind and snow. rEhe direction of the wind is shown by the arrows; but should it come from the opposite side the process would be reversed.

The deflectors are preferably made of boards D, held together by battens and bracings E,A

and a space may be left between the boards preferably of two'or three inches. In Fig. l the deiector upon the left bank is shown supported by wooden posts B, while for that upon the right bank iron is employed. Tile posts -or rods are secured to an anchor beam or frame, F, upon'which stones or earth may be placed to hold them firmly down. lFig. 3

clearly shows a section with boardsD secured to bracings E with sufiicient space between each board for the free passage of snow and air.

I claim- 1. The herein-described means for preventing the accumulation of snow in railway-cuttings, consisting of the detlector A, supported IOO above the Windward slope of the cut upon In testimony whereof I have hereto set my zo poles or standards secured to and anchored by hand in the presence of the two subscribing beams F, buried or otherwise anchored, as set witnesses. forth.

2. The herein-described preventer of snow V. L. HOVIE accumulations in rai1way-cuts, consisting of delector A, the boards of which are set a small fitnessesz distance apart, in combination with Supports W. VARDLE, and the anohor-bea1n F, as set forth. GEO. XV. BROWN. 

